City-County Councilman Zach Adamson and his partner, Christian Mosburg, will get married in Washington, D.C., later this month. / Matthew Tully

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Some state lawmakers have spent years pushing a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriage, an amendment they insist would somehow strengthen the institution of marriage.

But over at the Indianapolis City-County Building, another politician has devised a much better way to strengthen that institution: He’s joining it. Councilman Zach Adamson and his longtime partner, Christian Mosburg, are heading to Washington, D.C., next week to get married in front of a group of friends and family members in a city that has allowed same-sex marriage since 2010.

Like any couple on the verge of marriage, they’re excited about taking their vows. But they also hope that marriages like theirs can help to further break down the stereotypes and biases that have discriminated against gay individuals and couples for so long.

“It’s important that people see this doesn’t have to be the wedge issue or the divisive issue that it is often portrayed as,” said Adamson, a 42-year-old first-term Democratic councilman. “We are just doing what other people do.”

Adamson said the positive reception they’ve received, and the opportunity to get married, “just speaks to how far we’ve come.” It’s indeed a reminder of how much things have changed in a relatively short period of time.

States from California to Iowa to Maine have legalized same-sex marriage in recent years, and the U.S. Supreme Court helped the cause earlier this year with a pair of rulings that strengthened gay rights. Polls continue to show a sharp shift in public opinion on the issue, and Indianapolis voters in 2011 elected Adamson to an at-large council seat that represents the entire county, making him the first openly gay countywide official elected in the state’s history.

That campaign was based on issues such as crime and economic development and served as a reminder, Mosburg said, that as city residents, “we all have a lot more in common than we do in opposition to each other.”

Still, some state lawmakers have not caught up with the public. GOP leaders continue to stick to a plan to put the proposed constitutional ban before voters in 2014, and influential social conservatives are urging lawmakers to ignore the business leaders and many others who are fighting the plan.

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Obviously, that’s a source of frustration for Adamson and Mosburg, a Near Eastside couple who have been together for nearly a decade. Over breakfast last week they echoed concerns many have with the proposed amendment: it would send a horrible message to the businesses and young professionals that Indiana desperately needs to recruit. Moreover, while Indiana’s state law already prohibits gay marriage, the amendment could block couples from entering into even civil unions.

Then there is the issue of common decency.

“Putting a group of people’s civil rights and self-worth up to a vote of their fellow citizens has a very deep and entrenched impact on a human being,” Adamson said.

It’s easy to understand why, so let’s hope lawmakers listen to that message when they reconvene in January. For now, though, Adamson and Mosburg have planned a D.C. wedding and a follow-up ceremony in Indianapolis that will be jointly officiated by clergy of different faiths. Adamson said it is important to show that religion is an important aspect of their lives and to push back against the idea that gay people and religion “are somehow in opposition to each other.”

In the end, the men told me, their wedding will be centered on the same things as any other wedding: love and a display of commitment by two people who simply want to build a life together. The only regret the two men have is that the official ceremony must take place out of state. Mosburg, a Missouri native who works in logistics, said in a more perfect scenario the wedding would take place in Indianapolis.

“This is where we live,” he said. “This is where we’ve put our home base. This is where most of our friends are. You should be able to say that the place you’ve chosen to be your home is your home for everything.”

He’s right. And although their wedding will take place 600 miles away, the good news is that the life they will share afterward will be here in Indiana.